NASCAR Cup Series

Drive for Diversity profile: Natalie Sather

Published Jan. 22, 2009 7:21 p.m. ET

foxsports

Team Owner: Total Velocity Motorsports

Track: Evergreen Speedway

Hometown: Fargo, N.D.

Years in Racing: 10

Date Of Birth: 3/12/85

Natalie Sather is a 23-year- old race car driver from Fargo, N.D. Her father is in the automobile business and she grew up around cars, so it was only natural that she developed a passion for racing. Sather started racing go-karts at the age of nine and was the first female driver to win the Duffy Trophy for the 2001 Grand National Championship on pavement.

In 2002, Sather made the jump to sprint cars and was involved in a serious crash in her fifth race that required several surgeries. Amazingly, she came back later that season to post two top-ten finishes. In the following off-season, Sather went on to compete in the Miss Teen North Dakota USA Pageant where she was voted Miss Congeniality. Sather has since competed in the Miss North Dakota USA Pageant and was second runner-up.

Sather became the first woman to win a major ASCS trophy in 2007 when she won the Midwest Points Championship. The 2008 season was very successful for her since she finished in the top 10 in the Knoxville Raceway points standings, also becoming the first woman to receive the 360 Rookie of the Year Award. In 2008, she also had the highest finish by a female in Knoxville Raceway history when she finished in third place, and was a graduate of the Lyn St. James Women in the Winners Circle program.

Due to her achievements in 2008, Sather was invited in October to show her skills at the 2008 Drive for Diversity Testing & Evaluation Combine presented by Sunoco at South Boston Speedway. Her efforts at the Combine got her accepted into the 2009 Drive for Diversity class. This season, Sather will be competing in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Wash., for Total Velocity Motorsports.